Last Year At Hogwarts
by imadinosawr
Summary: Temp Title, can't think of anything else! [Dramione] It's Hermione's last year at Hogwarts and she's not going to let anyone or anything ruin it, even if it involv
1. Chapter 1

A/N: _Woo, new fanfic! Umm, yeah… A little more hate in this one. My other one is too lovey dovey. But check it out if you want to :P. Oh yeah, in this fic, Dumbledore hasn't died. And I own nothing. _

Hermione Granger sat in the Head's compartment. The train was jolting away from London and they had just started passing through fields of sheep and crops.

"When will they be here?" she sighed to herself, leaning her head on the back of the seat and staring at the ceiling.

She was waiting for Professor McGonagall and the new Head Boy to arrive. She had been made Head Girl over the summer and was astounded when her letter arrived.

The door to the compartment slid open and two figures stepped in.

"Professor," Hermione said, recognising one of the figures. She sat up and smiled politely at McGonagall.

McGonagall didn't return the smile but looked at Hermione with a twinkle in her eye that suggested kindness.

"Miss Granger, congratulations for making Head Girl. I must say, Professor Dumbledore was delighted to make this decision," McGonagall said curtly, taking a seat opposite Hermione. "This is our Head Boy."

Hermione looked to the second figure, who was standing by the door. The figure stepped forwards, out of the shadow. The first thing Hermione saw was a mop of white blonde hair. She scowled.

"Malfoy," she muttered, glaring at him.

Draco looked up, a smirk playing with his lips. Hermione studied him, the way she studied everyone. He had grown a fair few inches over the summer and was nearing 6 ft 4". His hair was still a platinum blonde, which shone in the sunlight that streamed into the compartment. He had his hands in his pockets and was hunched over slightly, but even then Hermione could see the clear definition of his chest and stomach muscles through his shirt. She looked him slowly up and down before resting her eyes on his face.

Her breath caught in her throat. His face. It held no resemblance to being a child at all. His jaw line was defined so perfectly, he looked as if he was cut from marble. His skin was the same marbled white it had always been, but a summer of Quidditch had tanned it ever so slightly. Hermione's gaze lingered on his eyes. They were a shining silver colour, gleaming in the sunlight. It took her a moment to realise, but he was looking directly back at her.

He smirked. "Glad to see you approve, Granger."

He took the seat next to her, his hands still in his pockets, facing Professor McGonagall. Hermione shook her hair back and waited for further instructions from the Professor. She wasn't going to let anything, or anyone, ruin her last year at Hogwarts.

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"One last note before we dig in to this glorious feast, our new Head Boy and Girl, Mr Malfoy of Slytherin and Miss Granger of Gryffindor," Dumbledore said to the school, gazing down upon them, his eyes twinkling.

Hermione and Draco stood up and made their way to the front of the Hall. They received boos and cheers before sitting back down at their tables again.

Food appeared on the tables and Dumbledore sat down. Hermione turned to her two best friends, Ron Weasley and Harry Potter. Ron was sitting on Hermione's left and was shovelling as much food onto his plate as was possible.

"I cab't beliebe Malboy's been bade Heab Boy," he mumbled through a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

"Ron, I've told you so many times," Hermione sighed, turning to Ron. "Swallow before you attempt to talk, otherwise we all get showered in potato."

"Sobby," Ron said, struggling down his mouthful. "I said: I can't believe Malfoy's been made Head Boy."

"Neither can I," Harry added from Hermione's other side. "It seems ridiculous."

"Well, it's Dumbledore's choice, so we'll have to trust him on this one," Hermione said, turning her gaze to the headmaster. "And I hate to say it, but I think Dumbledore might be loosing it. Making Malfoy Head Boy, honestly, what was he thinking?"

She turned back to her plate, muttering abuse about Draco under her breath. She swore crudely and both Ron and Harry stared at her.

"Hey Hermione, we all hate Malfoy but I didn't think you'd hate him enough to swear," Harry said.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that, but the year hasn't even started and he's annoyed me," Hermione said and she began to mumble abuse at him again.

"Doing what?" Ron said protectively, looking over to the Slytherin table where Draco was busy playing Tonsil Tennis with Pansy Parkinson.

"By being Malfoy!" Hermione said hysterically before leaping up and storming out of the Hall.

Harry and Ron exchanged glances before turning back to their food and wolfing down the remains.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: _Hmmmm… Maybe this won't have as much hate in as I'd like it to… But I have an idea and it includes hate! So anyway, I don't own anything. _

Hermione crashed into the Head's common room, throwing herself onto the sofa. As the cushions engulfed her, she scowled at the ceiling.

"Why did I get stuck with Malfoy for a whole year?" she questioned it. "Do they intend to kill me slowly?"

"I'm guessing they're trying to force you into suicide," came a low voice from the doorway.

Hermione sat up and looked around. Draco was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame. Hermione huffed and slumped backwards to her original position.

"By the way, Dumbledore wants to see you," Draco said, walking past the sofa and to the heavy oak door that lead to his bedroom.

Hermione sat up again and scowled at him as he crossed the room. Once he was in his room, she took the opportunity to study the common room, the way she studied everything. The room was circular and the walls were a dark red with several portraits hanging in various places. The fire was lit in the hearth and there was a clock on the mantle piece. There was the big sofa, which was a deep, near-black, green, that she was sitting on and two matching armchairs. She looked to the two doors that led to their separate bedrooms. They were both made of oak and had gold fixtures. There were charms on the doors to only let the Heads into the room, but Hermione's door had locks.

_Dumbledore wants to see you._

Draco's words sprang back to her mind and she stood up suddenly. She hurried out of the common room and ran to the gargoyle that led to Dumbledore's office.

"Damn, I don't know the password," she muttered to herself.

"Liquorish wands," came a voice from behind her.

Hermione looked around to see Dumbledore standing behind her smiling. The gargoyle jumped into action as she turned back around and they both climbed onto the spiralling stairs. Dumbledore opened the large oak door that greeted them at the top of the stairs and invited Hermione to sit in one of the chairs infront of his desk.

"I gather Mr Malfoy passed the message on," he said pleasantly.

"Yes Professor," Hermione replied.

"I suppose you're wondering why you're here," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling at her.

"Yes Professor," Hermione replied.

"We have one last chance to turn Draco good," Dumbledore said shortly.

Hermione was confused. Turning him good?

"I shall explain," Dumbledore went on, seeing the confused expression on Hermione's face. "Draco's father, Lucias, is on the other side. He is trying to make Draco turn to the other side as well, and so far, Draco has refused. But this year, we fear he will give in to his father. He has already been practising Unforgivable Curses on the family's slaves and servants. We have one last chance to turn Draco good."

"Why are you telling me this, Professor?" Hermione asked, still slightly confused.

"We need your help, Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, rising from his chair and turning to look out of the large window behind his desk. "We need you to learn to trust Draco and to convince him to stay on this side."

"You need me to befriend him?" Hermione asked, her temper rising.

"No, Miss Granger, not befriend him. To learn to love him as a friend, the same way you love Mr Potter and Mr Weasley." Dumbledore turned and looked at her with sorrow in his eyes.

Hermione breathed in deeply as these words washed over her.

"Okay," she whispered. "I'll do it."


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: _I really have to stop with the short chapters. I'll work on it, I'll work on it. I own nothing. _

Hermione climbed through the portrait hole, trying to clear her thoughts and run over what she had promised Dumbledore.

"I guessed I'd better start now," she sighed to herself.

She walked up to Draco's door and knocked quietly.

"What?" Draco's dull tones answered her.

"Malf-… Draco, I was wondering if you wanted to go over the Head's schedule together," Hermione said nervously.

The door opened slightly and Draco's head appeared in the gap. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was glaring at her.

"What?" he asked as if she was stupid.

Hermione took a deep breath to prevent herself from yelling at him. It was times like this that she really hated him.

"Do you want to go over the Head's schedule together?" she said as slowly and as calmly as she could.

"Not now, I'm busy, Mudblood," Draco said, shutting the door.

Hermione clenched her fists and breathed in heavily through her nose.

_This is going to be harder than I thought_, she thought.

"Draco, please, we need to go look at the Head's schedule," Hermione said, turning and leaning with her back against his door.

The door opened without her expecting it and she fell backwards into Draco. He stepped backwards with a smirk on his face.

"I know every girl in this school finds me unbearably attractive but no need to come crashing into my room, Granger," he said as Hermione scrambled to her feet.

"Really? Who told you that you were attractive?" Hermione fired back, spinning around to face him.

"Leave me alone, Mudblood," Draco sneered, slamming the door in her face again.

Hermione ran to her room, slammed her own door and let out a scream of frustration. Why did he have to be so difficult?

She flopped onto her bed and stared at the ceiling.

"This friendship business is going to be hard," a voice came from one of the portraits on the wall.

Hermione looked up and found a kind-looking old witch smiling down at her.

"Pardon?" Hermione asked, sitting up and facing the portrait.

"Being friends with that Malfoy boy. I overheard Albus telling you in his office, sorry I shouldn't have eaves dropped," the old witch said.

"So why will it be hard?" Hermione asked.

"I went to school with his grandfather. Nasty man, he was, very nasty. I assume his grandson will follow in his footsteps," the witch said.

"Sorry to sound rude but who are you?" Hermione asked, tilting her head to one side.

"Rosalinda Jeopardy," the witch replied, curtsying in her frame.

"Hermione Granger," Hermione replied.

"Ah yes, I've heard a lot about you from Albus," Rosalinda said.

"So what were you saying about Draco?" Hermione asked, encouraging Rosalinda to continue.

"I was Head Girl when I was at Hogwarts. There's a journal under the loose floorboard under the bed," Rosalinda said.

Hermione flipped onto her stomach and lowered herself over the edge of the bed until she could see under it. She pulled at all the floorboards until she found the loose one. She then pulled a thick, dusty journal out from the space under the floorboard and sat back upright on the bed.

"It's empty," she said, flicking through the pages.

"Hang on," Rosalinda said, reaching behind her and pulling out a version of her own and opening it on the same page Hermione had it open on.

Suddenly there was a hole in the book, but the hole was filled with a silvery liquid. Hermione looked up at Rosalinda and saw she had her wand pressed to her own version of the page.

"I was in my one of my other portraits at my brother's old house about two days before the Hogwarts term started," Rosalinda said. "Take a look."

Hermione looked back to the silvery liquid and saw a miniature set, almost like a small television screen. She looked closer and suddenly found herself falling into nothingness. She landed on a dusty floor and looked around.

"Master, I brought him." There was a voice from behind her and Hermione span around.

Lucias Malfoy was standing in the doorway. Hermione gasped as he started to walk towards her. She covered her head with her arms but he walked straight through her.

"Of course, I'm in a memory," Hermione told herself out loud.

"Master," Lucias said, reaching a tall-backed chair that was positioned infront of the fire.

"I heard you!" the person in the chair snapped. "Bring him in."

"Yes Master," Lucias said, heading back to the door.

Hermione watched wide-eyed as Draco was thrown into the room. He stumbled under the force that his father had pushed him and then straightened up, glaring at the back of the tall-backed chair. The chair suddenly span round and Voldemort was glaring at Draco. Hermione let out a gasp and shuffled away from the chair.

"Are you prepared to join our side?" Voldemort asked, his voice silky.

He stood up and started to circle Draco. Draco remained staring stonily at the chair. Hermione could see beads of sweat forming on his brow.

"Answer me!" Voldemort demanded, stopping infront of Draco and pulling out his wand.

Draco flinched but refused to talk.

"So you're playing it that way?" Voldemort said, a smirk playing with his thin lips.

Suddenly, a nine tail whip appeared out of no where and Voldemort was smiling menacingly at Draco. Hermione saw Draco glance at the whip and swallow. Voldemort grasped Draco's cloak and ripped it off of him. He then proceeded to rip Draco's shirt from him. Hermione couldn't help but ogle his muscled chest and stomach, but as she was gazing at him, there was a crack of a whip and nine cuts appeared on Draco's stomach before she could see what happened. Hermione flicked her eyes to his face and saw he was wincing, sweat now dripping from his forehead. There was another crack of the whip and Hermione watched with mouth open in astonishment. After about seven cracks of the whip, Draco fell forwards onto his hands and knees, yelling out in pain. Voldemort whipped his back once more and stood back, whip slung over his shoulder, looking satisfied. Blood dripped to the floor from Draco's cuts on his chest and stomach.

"Draco," Hermione whispered, her eyes wide as she looked at him on the ground.

She flicked her eyes to Lucias, who was standing by Draco, a twisted smile playing with his pale features.

"You bastard! You're a selfish bastard! How could you stand back and watch that happen to your only son?" Hermione screamed at him, forgetting he couldn't hear her.

She suddenly felt like she was flying and recognised the feeling as coming back out of the journal.

"Rosalinda!" she screamed when she was back in her room.

She ran to the portrait and her heart fell to see that it was empty. She turned back to the journal which was open on her bed and saw that the puddle of silvery liquid had vanished. She collapsed onto the bed beside the journal and broke down into tears, the scene of Draco being whipped playing over and over in her mind.


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: _Ooh… I don't know what happened last chapter, there wasn't much hate! Let's turn the hate up… I own nothing as usual. _

Hermione stirred and rolled over. She opened one eye and looked around. The journal was still open beside her. Her eyes welled as she remembered the memory she'd seen the night before.

"Oi, Granger!" Draco's bossy tones rang from the common room.

Hermione felt a rush of detest replacing the pity that she had felt for Draco a moment ago.

"What?" she shouted back, sitting up in her bed and pulling the journal towards her.

"Come here for a minute," Draco shouted back.

Hermione sighed and closed the journal, sliding it under her pillow before going to her door and opening it. She stuck her head out and looked around for Draco. He was sitting on the sofa, an arm around none other than Pansy Parkinson.

"What's she doing here?" Hermione asked, glaring at Pansy.

"We had a little celebration last night," Pansy replied, her voice high and sickly sweet. She grinned toothily at Draco and pouted her thin lips for a kiss.

Draco kissed her and turned back to Hermione.

"Get us some coffee, Granger," he ordered.

Hermione scowled. "Get your own stinking coffee!"

She slammed the door and went back to her bed. Then she thought about what she had promised Dumbledore and sighed. Reluctantly, she went back to the door and opened it again.

"What do you want?" she asked, staring at the floor.

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Hermione slumped onto the sofa, totally worn out. She'd been trying to be nice to Draco all day and it had ended in her running around for him.

"Oi, Granger," Draco said for the thousandth time.

"Yes?" Hermione asked, looking at him, upside-down, as she leant back on the back of the sofa.

"What's with the whole running around after me?" Draco asked, collapsing onto the sofa next to her, making it bounce slightly.

"Nothing, I just felt like being nice to you for once," Hermione said, straightening up and folding her arms across herself. "I hate hating people."

"Well, I hate being hated," Draco said.

They sat in silence for a moment until Hermione turned to Draco.

"What do you see in Pansy?" she asked, furrowing her eyebrows and grinning at the same time.

Draco wrinkled his nose and stared out of the window.

"I don't really know," he replied after a moment. "She's a really bad kisser, horrible in bed, she's got a really stupid voice, and she looks like a dog."

"I guess she has a good personality, then," Hermione said, smiling.

"If you call having a personality to rival a loaf of bread good, then yeah I suppose so," Draco said, smiling as well and turning to face Hermione.

Hermione found herself staring into those silver eyes of his, forgetting the outside world and loosing herself in the shining gems. Draco was staring back at her, falling into her chocolate-coloured eyes. Hermione was the first to come to her senses and look away. She stood up, heat flooding to her cheeks.

"Well, I'm going to bed," she said, stretching and heading towards her door.

She could feel Draco watching her stretch and felt his eyes follow her to her door. She ducked inside and shut the door quietly. Draco remained staring at the door silently before standing up and going to his own room.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: _Gah with the non-hate. Right. I need a plan. With more hate. Hmmm. _

Another A/N: _I know nothing. I mean… I own nothing… Yeah._

Draco was sitting on the sofa the next morning, scribbling random answers down to finish his Potions essay. There was a knock at the portrait hole.

"What?" he grunted, not looking up from his essay.

"Drackie-poo?" Pansy's voice replied and Draco shuddered.

He sighed to himself and got up to open the portrait hole. Pansy's grin widened when she saw Draco.

"Oh Drackie, if you were still in your pyjamas, you should have said," she squealed, shoving her way into the common room.

Draco looked down and remembered that he was currently wearing pyjama trousers and a white tank top. He glared at the portrait as he pushed it back over the hole.

"But that means we could go back to bed, eh?" Pansy said, turning around and screwing her whole face up to wink at him.

"Not today Pansy," Draco sighed, already getting sick of the sound of her voice.

He ran a hand through his hair as Pansy plonked herself down on the sofa where Draco had just been writing his essay.

"You're no fun," Pansy said grumpily, folding her arms and scowling, in what she assumed was a cute way, up at him.

"Fine, come on then," Draco sighed. _Anything to get that scowl off of her face. And besides, I need some relief from all that Potions work, _he added to himself.

Pansy didn't say anything but jumped up and grinned at Draco before running to the door to his bedroom. Draco shook his head and went after her.

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Hermione was woken up by a shrill shriek coming from Draco's room.

_He's probably got Pansy in there,_ she thought to herself.

"Ah, you're awake," Rosalinda said from her portrait.

"Have you been waiting for me to wake up?" Hermione asked, sitting up and rubbing her eyes before turning to look at Rosalinda.

"Yep, I have something else to show you," Rosalinda said, cheerily. "Get the journal out again."

Hermione went back under the bed and retrieved the journal. As she sat back up, she heard another shriek from Draco's room and Hermione made a face.

"Mm, it looks worse than it sounds, trust me," Rosalinda said, shuddering.

"How do you know?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes at the portrait.

"Open the journal and you'll find out," Rosalinda replied, reaching behind her and producing her copy of the journal from no where.

Hermione flicked through the pages until she found the one Rosalinda was on. Rosalinda took out her wand and pressed it to the journal. Hermione looked down and saw the same silvery liquid puddle on the pages. She leant forwards into it until she could feel herself falling again. She landed on the floor next to a bed.

"Drackie-poo, hurry up and get that top off," Pansy said, her voice unnaturally high.

"Listen do you want to do this or not?" Draco barked, suddenly angry.

Hermione jumped at the sound of his voice. She averted her eyes from Pansy's frilly pink underwear and looked around. Rosalinda was talking in hushed tones to an elderly man in one of the portraits. Hermione attempted to get her attention but found herself invisible again.

"Draco," Pansy whined, screwing up her face and stamping her foot. "Hurry up!"

Hermione frowned as Pansy collapsed next to Draco on his bed. Draco removed his top and revealed the cuts the whip had made only a few days before. Pansy seemed not to notice these cuts but instead forced Draco into a kiss.

"He's really not enjoying this, is he," came a disapproving male voice from behind Hermione.

She looked around to see that it was the elderly man with Rosalinda talking.

"No, but I don't think anyone would enjoy it with that beast of a girl," Rosalinda said, gesturing to Pansy who was currently removing her bra.

All three of them, Hermione, Rosalinda and the elderly man, looked away as Pansy rid herself of her underwear. Hermione could have sworn even Draco glanced away.

"Ooh," Rosalinda said, putting a hand infront of her eyes as the shrieks began. "I think I'll go back to my own portrait."

"Mind if I come with you?" the man asked, copying Rosalinda and shielding his own eyes.

"No, _you_ have to stay here," Rosalinda replied. "Bye."

Hermione saw Rosalinda walk towards the frame of the portrait and disappear. She looked back around and couldn't help but gaze at Draco's toned figure. Though she didn't dare let her eyes wander lower than his chest at this moment in time.

"Oh honestly, couldn't this girl keep it down? Some of us are trying to keep their breakfast _in_ their stomachs thank you very much," the man said, tutting.

Hermione silently agreed. Suddenly she felt as if a bucket of cold water was being poured on her head and she found herself sitting back on her own bed.

"That was the most disgusting thing I've seen for a long time," she said, shutting the journal and pushing it away as if it was contagious.

"I know," Rosalinda said happily, as she put her own journal behind her and it disappeared.

"So why did you show it to me?" Hermione asked, feeling her temper rising.

"To show you that he really doesn't like that girl," Rosalinda replied as if Hermione was stupid.

"Yeah, I gathered that," Hermione said, standing up and walking towards her wardrobe.

"Yes but you don't know what I know," Rosalinda said in a sing-song voice.

"What do you," Hermione looked around and saw Rosalinda's frame was empty, "know?"

She huffed and turned back to her wardrobe, pulling out a dark red tank top and some black jeans. Pansy continued to shriek.

"Oh shut up!" Hermione yelled at the wall.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: _Man, I have to be really careful about the stuff I put in here. This thing's only rated T! So anyway, I don't own anything except Rosalinda. :)_

Hermione was sitting on the sofa, reading up on Ancient Runes, when Draco's door opened. Draco stepped out of his room, looking ruffled. Hermione stood to leave but Draco put an arm across her door, stopping her from opening it. He looked at her intently, his eyes glittering. She looked back, her breath taken away by his eyes.

"What are you-…?" Hermione started but Draco pressed his mouth to hers before she could finish.

Draco wrapped his arms around Hermione, but Hermione's arms were still clutching her Ancient Runes book to her chest and were crushed between them. There was a loud scream from behind them and Hermione opened one eye to see Pansy standing with her mouth open. She happened to look like a goldfish. With bad hair.

"You bitch!" Pansy shrieked, charging forward and knocking them apart. Hermione fell backwards and hit the floor, hard.

Pansy ran to the portrait hole and scrambled through, slamming it in her wake. Hermione climbed to her feet and brushed herself down before picking up her Ancient Runes book. She looked up at Draco but was met with a horrified look.

"I just kissed a _Mudblood_!" he said, wrinkling his nose in disgust and going back to his room.

Hermione felt a lump in her throat suddenly bob into place and felt her eyes sting with the beginnings of tears. She ran into her room and threw herself on the bed, allowing the first few tears to fall.

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Draco sat down on his bed and let his head drop into his hands. He felt something new. He felt… bad. He felt bad that he'd said that to Hermione. He felt bad about the look on her face after he'd said it.

"Now is the worst time to get a bloody conscience!" he said out loud.

"Watch your language, young man," came a voice from one of the portraits.

"I don't need two consciences thank you very much," Draco snapped.

He stood up and walked over to his mirror. After glaring at himself for a minute or two, he realised what he had to do. He opened his door and looked around the common room for Hermione. After seeing that she wasn't there, he stepped infront of her door.

"Grang-… Hermione?" he asked, staring at the door handle.

"What?" she replied, sounding choked up.

"Can I come in?" he asked, as kindly as his years of being a bully would let him.

"If you really must," Hermione replied.

He pushed the door open and saw Hermione sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed, staring down at her hands and fumbling a very screwed up tissue. He sat down on the edge of her bed, keeping his eyes on her all the time. She sniffed and kept her eyes on her hands. He took a moment to take her all in. She was leant over but Draco could still see her curvaceous figure, totally opposite to Pansy's straight up and down look. Her hair was falling in gentle ringlets over her shoulders and onto her chest and if he sat up just slightly he could see down her top. But he shook his head and focused on Hermione herself instead of her cleavage.

"So what do you want?" she asked, looking up at him.

Draco opened his mouth to answer but the words wouldn't come out. He gazed at her face. She had tear tracks criss-crossing down her cheeks, her eyelashes were sticking together with tears and her eyes were red and puffy, but she looked amazing. Draco fixed his eyes on Hermione's and leant forwards ever so slightly until he was just inches away from her. Before Hermione had time to register what was happening, she felt Draco's soft lips on hers and his strong arms around her, gathering her towards him. She was about to respond by wrapping her arms around his neck when she realised what she way doing.

"Get off of me!" she yelled, shoving Draco backwards and scrambling off of the bed.

"What did I do wrong?" Draco asked, sitting back up and looking at Hermione, his eyes wide.

"Just because you've lost your stupid girlfriend doesn't mean you have to come onto me!" Hermione shouted before storming to the door.

"I kissed you so I could get rid of her!" Draco retorted, standing up and following Hermione as she went into the common room.

"Why? Did you get tired of sex on tap, then?" she sneered, heading to the portrait hole.

"Hermione!" Draco shouted as she climbed through the hole. "Granger get back here!"

She didn't turn back and Draco fell onto the sofa, his hands over his face in despair.

"Now what have I done?" he groaned into his hands.

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Hermione headed straight to the Gryffindor common room. She told the Fat Lady the password and crashed into the common room. Several people looked round at her as she made her way across the common room to the big chairs by the fire where she knew she would find Ron and Harry. She collapsed onto one of the sofas next to Ron and burst back into a fresh peel of tears.

"'Mione?" Ron asked as she leant against his arm, sobbing. "What's wrong?"

"Everything," Hermione sniffed.

She looked up and found Ron looking back down at her. A plan formed in her mind. A way to get back at Draco. She leant upwards and kissed Ron softly on the lips. She smiled and pulled away, happy to see his bemused face. She grinned to herself as he pulled her back again, pressing his lips firmly to hers.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: _I own nothing except Rosalinda, the dude in the portrait in Draco's room and Pansy's frilly pink pants. _

Hermione walked back to the common room, her mind whirring. She had a plan. She wasn't sure if it was going to work, but it was a plan all the same.

"You're late," Draco said as she stepped out from the portrait hole.

"What's it to you?" Hermione shot back.

"You're never usually out past the curfew," Draco replied, not lifting his eyes from his homework.

"Shut up, Malfoy," Hermione said, shaking her head and heading to her bedroom.

"Wait up, I'm not finished with you," Draco said, dropping his homework and sprinting to Hermione's door.

"What do you want?" Hermione asked, sighing.

"I'm," he started. He wasn't used to this. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Hermione asked, a smile spreading across her face.

"I'm sorry!" Draco snapped. "Happy now?"

Hermione sighed and turned back into her room, not bothering to close the door. Draco followed her and watched as she slumped onto her bed.

"You wind me up so much, Draco," she said, falling back across the covers.

"What do you mean?" Draco asked, sitting down beside her.

"One minute, you're all Slytherin-ish, next you're coming onto me," Hermione replied.

"Don't blame me," Draco said, collapsing down next to her. "Blame the raging teenage hormones."

Hermione laughed softly. Draco smiled. They stayed staring at the ceiling until a voice broke the silence.

"Hermione! Hermi-…" Rosalinda's voice came from her portrait.

Hermione looked up at Rosalinda and saw she was in mid-step, one arm swung forwards and one leg held out, staring at them with her eyes wide.

"You have one as well?" Draco asked, sitting up.

"Yeah. She can be quite useful," Hermione replied.

"Hey, hey, hey," Rosalinda said, facing Hermione, hands on hips, one finger wiggling at her. "What's going on here, then?"

"Rosalinda, you have a filthy mind," Hermione said, glaring at Rosalinda.

"It has a name?" Draco asked, his pale eyebrows raised.

"_It_ is standing right infront of you," Rosalinda said, folding her arms and tapping her foot.

"Sorry Rosalinda, he's not used to being considerate to other people," Hermione said, standing up and crawling under her bed. Draco watched her as she came back out, holding a journal.

"Rosalinda, can you show him the first memory you showed me?" she asked the portrait, opening the journal.

Draco remained bemused. What memory?

"If I must," Rosalinda huffed, faking annoyance.

She reached behind her and pulled out a miniature journal. She opened it to the same page as Hermione had it open on and pulled her wand out, pressing it to the page. Draco stood up and looked over the book, seeing a puddle of silvery liquid form. Hermione grabbed his arm and leant over the liquid. Draco felt something like an egg being cracked over his head and found himself in a dark room.

"Where are we?" he whispered, his stomach sinking as he felt he recognized it.

Hermione didn't say anything but shook her head, her eyes shining as she reminisced what was about to happen. Draco watched as his father stepped into the room and addressed the chair infront of the fire.

"Bring him in," the person in the chair said.

Draco stared. He watched himself being thrown into the room and jumped when the chair span around. He could feel the terror that had been running through him that night return with a vengeance as he watched Voldemort circle the memory him.

"So you're playing it that way?" Voldemort asked, suddenly producing a whip.

Draco turned his head and shut his eyes as he listened to the crack of those nine tails that had scarred his chest and back. He felt a hand on his arm and found Hermione looking at him, her eyes wide and shining with tears. She grimaced and he felt like he was falling again.

"I'm sorry, but I felt like I had to show you what I saw," Hermione whispered as Draco collapsed onto her bed, his eyes shut.

"I didn't want anyone to see that," he muttered, covering his face with his hands as Hermione sat down next to him.

Hermione noticed how he avoided touching his stomach as he moved his arms to his face. She reached over and pulled at the buttons on his shirt. He didn't move as she undid most of the buttons on his shirt, opening it up so she could see his chest and stomach. There were what seemed like hundreds of cuts, littering his skin. Even though they were a few days old, they were still as clear as day. She looked to Draco's face, which he still covered with his hands, and then turned her attentions to the cuts. Swallowing, she gingerly reached out and traced one of the cuts running up the center of his chest. He tensed and took his hands away from his face.

"What are you do-…?" he started but Hermione shook her head to silence him.

She moved her finger onto another cut and gently traced it across his stomach. Draco flinched and screwed his face up, trying not to make any noise. He grabbed Hermione's hand and pulled it away from the cuts. Opening his eyes again, he saw her looking back at him and pulled her towards him. He gently brushed her lips with his, so softly, he was unsure of whether he touched her or not. She sat up suddenly and stared at him with shocked eyes.

"I'm going out with Ron," she burst out, her eyes still wide.

It felt as though a mallet had just hit Draco round the head.


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: _Okay, maybe I'm starting to loose my touch. I think the chapters are getting worse and worse. Let me know if you don't think so. And I own nothing, 'kay?_

Hermione looked over the top of her book at Draco. It had been a week since she'd told him she was dating Ron and he'd been avoiding her ever since. He was currently sitting opposite her in the common room, scribbling away on a roll of parchment.

"Malfoy," she said, resting her book on her lap.

He ignored her and turned to his book for reference for his essay.

"Malfoy," she said louder.

He looked back to his parchment and started writing again. Hermione huffed and stood up.

"Malfoy!" she shouted, snatching his parchment away, making him scrawl a line down the sheet.

"What?" he snapped, finally looking up at her.

"Why are you ignoring me?" Hermione asked, lifting the parchment up out of his reach as he tried to grab it back.

"How am I ignoring you?" Draco replied, scowling at her.

"You've been ignoring me all week, avoiding me in the corridors and even here in the common room," Hermione said, folding her arms, still holding the parchment.

"Maybe I've been busy," Draco said, still scowling.

"I was shouting at you from across the room and you weren't listening," Hermione said, frowning.

"Okay, so what if I was ignoring you? What would you do about it?" Draco retaliated.

Hermione opened her mouth to reply but found she had nothing to reply with. Draco smirked.

"Just as I thought," he said, standing up and leaning over the table to take hold of the parchment. "I'll be taking that back."

"Malfoy," Hermione said, watching him as he walked to his room.

"Go away, Granger," he sighed, as if bored by her.

"Malfoy!" Hermione said, stamping her foot in annoyance.

"I said go away!" Draco replied, slamming the door.

Hermione huffed and went up to his door. She knocked quietly.

"Mal-… Draco, open up," she said, almost pleading.

"Why should I?" he replied from inside.

"Just open!" she said, getting frustrated again.

She heard him stamp across his room and he threw the door open.

"What?" he grunted.

Hermione suddenly found herself standing on her toes, leaning towards his lips. She suddenly felt his mouth on hers, his arms around her, her arms around him. When she pulled back and opened her eyes, reality hit her and she turned and ran away.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no," she mumbled, rushing to her room.

She could feel Draco's eyes follow her to her room. She shut the door and flopped on the bed.

"What am I doing?" she groaned, glaring at the ceiling.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: _ I have no inspiration. But I do have cookies. So I shall charge full steam ahead at this chapter and pretend I'm good at this. Owning nothing, by the way. _

Draco swallowed. He could still taste her on his lips. He took a deep breath and leapt on his instinct. Still staring at the door, he marched up to it and knocked.

"Go away," Hermione said from inside the room.

"Open this door," Draco ordered.

"Give me one good reason why I should," Hermione snapped.

"Or I'll blast it down," Draco threatened.

He heard Hermione get up off of her bed and walk across the room. She opened the door an inch and peered out, but Draco pushed the door forcefully open and kept his arm across it, glaring down at her.

"Why did you kiss me?" he demanded.

"How am I supposed to know? I don't even know myself, you arrogant ferret!" Hermione retorted.

"It's not like I'd ever go out with you, you know," Draco said, raising his eyebrows.

"I'd hardly like to go out with you," Hermione replied, putting her weight on one leg and folding her arms.

Draco felt a plunge in his stomach. No one had ever said that they wouldn't date him before. It came as quite a shock. He looked up slightly and found himself immersed in shining chocolate eyes. What was this devil woman making him feel? It was something he'd never felt before, a kind of warmth in his chest – no, in his heart. He couldn't put a finger on it.

"You are the most annoying witch I've ever had the misfortune to meet," he said, his voice low. Hermione didn't flinch so he continued. "But you're making me feel something I've never felt before, and it's so damned irritating when you go and do what you just did, because it makes it worse!"

"Well that's not my problem, you just need to sort your hormones out!" Hermione snapped.

"Who said this was hormones?" Draco said, rolling his eyes sarcastically.

"Why don't you go and find your slimy Slytherin girlfriend and shag her for a while? Maybe it'll get some of the tension off of your chest!" Hermione snarled, her teeth gritted.

She made to slam the door shut, but he kept it open with his arm.

"Why are you doing this?" she whispered, her eyes pleading at him.

He swallowed. The truth was that he didn't know. He was too confused to figure what this new feeling was, why he was doing this, or how he felt.

"Hermione… I… I mean… I think I…" he said, staring at his feet.

"DRACO!" Pansy shrieked from the other side of the portrait hole. "I NEED YOU OUT HERE NOW!"

With the look of a lost puppy, Draco sighed and turned away from Hermione, heading towards the portrait hole. Hermione shook her head slowly and slammed the door shut in a sudden temper.

_What in Merlin's name is going on?! _


	10. Chapter 10

A/N: _I think I've totally confused myself with this fanfic, but I have Minstrels, so I'll carry on with the confusnosity of it all :D_

"Granger!" Draco's voice rang into the common room as Hermione leant against the back of her door after slamming it. "Your slime-ball of a boyfriend's out here!"

Hermione's heart leapt. Why was Ron outside? She opened her door and cross the common room to the portrait hole, climbing out. She saw Pansy red-faced and glaring at Ron, and Ron sighing and rolling his eyes. Draco was leaning against the wall, watching the scene.

"Ron," Hermione said, smiling and standing infront of him. "What are you doing out here?"

Ron draped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer so he could whisper in her ear.

"I was hoping we could… _spend the night_ together," he whispered, grinning.

Hermione blushed at the thought.

"Ron, I don't think that's a good idea," she whispered back.

"Why not?" he asked, frowning.

"Sorry to interrupt, but could we get on with ridding this corridor of Weasley scum so I can get back to kicking Granger's arse?" Draco said, folding his arms across his chest.

"Oh Drackie-Poo, I knew you'd turn around in the end!" Pansy squealed, sidling over to Draco.

Draco half-ignored her, but lazily put his arm on her shoulders, still glaring at Hermione and Ron.

"On second thoughts," Hermione said quietly to Ron, feeling her blood begin to boil. "Maybe it's not such a bad idea after all."

Ron grinned triumphantly and then turned to Draco with a look of 'I'm getting some tonight, ha, in your face'.

"So are you going to leave or not?" Draco asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hermione smirked, turned to Ron and kissed him deeply. When she turned back around, a smug look on her face, she saw Pansy's eyeballs nearly popping out and Draco's mouth wide open. Pansy suddenly scowled and grabbed Draco, pulling him into a kiss. Draco, somewhat reluctant to kiss Pansy, attempted to struggle away. Hermione laughed bitterly and took Ron's hand, leading him over to the portrait hole.

"Where do you think you're going?" Draco said, coming up for air and trying to get out of the headlock Pansy had him in.

"To bed," Hermione said simply before she and Ron disappeared inside.

"Come on, Drackie, let's go to bed too," Pansy said, attempting to pout.

"Get off me Pansy," Draco snapped, pushing her away.

He suddenly felt angry and he couldn't understand why. He stormed into the common room and threw himself down on the sofa, scowling into the fire.

_What the hell…? _he thought to himself.


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: _ Sorry I've been abusing all my fanfics! dodges brick But I'm back at another year of school, so I can settle down, forget homework and carry on fanficing. :3 _

Hermione was sitting at the end of her bed, Ron's jumper covering down to her mid-thighs, his boxers baggy around her knees. She had just given Ron the most important thing to her, something she had hung onto all these years, despite the offers from the boys back home, but somehow, she felt… empty. She didn't feel fulfilled or satisfied, like she'd heard about, but disappointed or even upset. She loved Ron, of course she did, but she didn't know if she loved him in that way. She'd always loved him as a friend, but now, thinking about it, she didn't love him as anything more than that.

She looked at Ron, who was curled up in a ball under the duvet and felt her stomach plunge with guilt. Sighing, she stood up and opened the door. She sat on the sofa, looking around the room and taking everything in. Draco had left some of his homework on the table and there was an empty coffee mug beside it. Strangely, she felt tears well up in her eyes and used the cuff of the sleeve on Ron's jumper to wipe her eyes. A door opened and Hermione looked up. Draco was standing in the doorway to his room in pyjama trousers and a t-shirt. Without saying anything, he sat down beside Hermione and put an arm around her, pulling her towards him. Hermione leant against him, swallowing and blinking rapidly, trying to hold her tears back.

"Let it out, Hermione," Draco said kindly.

"I shouldn't feel like this! I should feel happy and loved," she whispered, one tear rolling down her cheek.

"The first time is different for everyone," Draco said.

"I know, I know," Hermione said, wiping the tear away with her sleeve.

She shut her eyes and concentrated on Draco's steady heart beat. She felt a hand in her hair, but didn't open her eyes. Draco softly stroked her hair, gently lulling her into sleep. Hermione felt herself engulfed in dreams, but they were riddled with guilt and memories.

In the morning, Hermione felt herself being shaken roughly awake. She opened her eyes and found herself face to face with an angry Ron.

"What the hell are you doing?" he demanded.

Hermione sat up slowly and looked around blearily. Draco was asleep on the sofa.

"Oh," she said, rubbing her eyes. "Must have fallen asleep."

"Fallen asleep? What?" Ron spat.

"I couldn't sleep last night so Draco and I talked," Hermione said, feeling defensive.

"Talked?" Ron snapped. "Yeah, I bet's that's _all _you did!"

"Yes it is, actually," Hermione retorted.

Draco stirred.

"Shut up, you'll wake him up," Hermione said, switching her gaze to Draco's peaceful face and watching him.

"Since when did that ferret become so important?" Ron shouted, rounding on Hermione.

Draco yawned and stretched. He saw Ron with his face inches from Hermione's, his teeth gritted and his cheeks flushed with rage.

"What's going on?" he asked, looking from Hermione to Ron and back again.

"Forget it," Ron sneered, straightening up and walking towards the portrait hole.

"Ron," Hermione yelped, jumping up and going after him.

She grabbed his arm and he tried to pull away.

"Why are you doing this?" Hermione asked, keeping hold of his arm.

"Why did you even bother making a move on me?" Ron asked, stopping struggling. "You just used to me to make _him_ jealous."

"Ron, I didn't!" Hermione protested.

"It's obvious," Ron snapped. He turned around and looked at Draco icily. "Have her. I don't care anymore."

With that, he pulled out of Hermione's grip and stormed out of the portrait hole.

"Ron!" Hermione shouted, running towards the portrait hole.

She reached the portrait and stopped, breaking down into tears. She fell to her knees, collapsing onto the floor. She clapped a hand over her mouth, trying to stop herself making a noise.

"_Did _you use him to make me jealous?" Draco asked, sitting up and looking at her.

Hermione shook her head, her hand covering most of her face.

"Tell me the truth," Draco said, sighing.

"I didn't mean to! I thought I loved him!" she burst out, sobbing and shaking.

Draco crouched down next to her.

"You constantly surprise me, Hermione Granger," he said.

But there was something about how he said it. He didn't sneer or snap at her. It wasn't quite pleasant. Hermione didn't have time to think about it as her thoughts were cut off by the sensation of Draco's lips on hers. Although it wasn't the first time he'd kissed her, she felt something new. There was passion, not just a regular kiss. Hermione pulled back.

"This is why Ron got mad at me," she whispered, her eyes flickering over Draco's face, tears still silently rolling over her cheeks. "I don't think this should be happening."

"But it is, Hermione," Draco said gently. "Isn't this what you want?" His cold fingers traced lightly over her cheek as he spoke. Hermione's breath caught in her throat.

"I don't know anymore," she replied as Draco traced her tear tracks down her cheek.

"Then let me make the decisions for you," Draco said, his eyes sweeping over her face before resting on her eyes.

Hermione stretched out her hand and cupped Draco's face, his cool skin soft beneath her fingers. Draco's eyes flickered shut and he breathed in deeply, placing a hand over hers, holding it to his cheek.

"Okay," Hermione whispered. "Okay. You make a decision for me."

Draco opened his eyes and took her hand away from his face, folding his own around hers. He studied her face, considering a decision to make.

"I make the decision that you and I are going to start dating," he said eventually.

Hermione's mouth dropped open.

"What?" she asked.

"You and I are going to start dating," Draco repeated, squeezing her hand gently. "I just decided."

"Are you serious? Do you have any idea what people will say?" Hermione snapped. "Your reputation is going to be on the line. People will talk about us and-…"

"And it'll be worth it, Hermione," Draco cut in.

"But-…"

"But nothing."

He leant forwards and caught her lips in another kiss to reassure her he meant it.


	12. Chapter 12

A/N: _Ahahahaha, I love your reviews:D So yes, as you may have noticed, I changed my pen name, I'm now Rainbowz instead of Magic Munchkin J. :D Sorry if this confuses anyone. :p P.S. I can't play chess. You'll understand what I mean if you read on._

Hermione didn't feel like going to lessons for the morning, so Draco stayed with her and they caught up on homework and talked and played chess. Hermione didn't want to face Harry or Ron, or even Ginny. No doubt Ron would have told them by now, and knowing Ginny's big mouth, most of the school would have found out.

"Hermione?" Draco asked, noticing Hermione was distracted from the game of chess they were playing.

"Yes?" she replied, snapping out of her trance.

"What are you thinking about?" Draco asked, trying to read her expression. Her eyes pondered over Draco for a moment before she answered.

"I'm not thinking about anything," she said.

Draco rolled his eyes and said, "Hermione you're always thinking." He reached across the chess board and took her hand in his. "You can tell me, you know."

"I'm okay," she said, smiling. Then she looked down to the board. "It's your go."

Draco, reluctant to stop talking about whatever was bothering her, pulled his hand away and instructed his pawn to move across a square. Hermione was about to make her move when there was a thud at the window. They both looked up and saw an owl sitting on the window sill. Hermione got up to let it in. It swooped down and dropped the letter on the chess board, knocking all the pieces over, and flew back out.

"I was winning that!" Hermione grumbled, picking the letter up off of the messy chess board.

She opened it and recognised the writing as Ginny's. Sighing, she read it to herself.

_Hermione, _

_OH MY GOD. Ron just told us – Harry and me – that you two slept together! Ahh, I'm so happy for you! Ron wasn't all that pleased, really, though. I don't know why, he wouldn't tell us. And Harry said you weren't at breakfast or in lessons… Is everything alright? You're not pregnant or something, are you? _

_OH MY GOD. I bet you are! And it's Ron's! That's it; I'm coming to find you at lunch! You're gonna need help with the baby, and I want to be godmother. _

_OH MY GOD. I'm going to be an aunt. OH I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU!_

_Ginny xxx_

"Who was that from?" Draco asked, watching Hermione's eyes silently flit across the page.

"Ginny," Hermione mumbled. She looked up at the clock on the mantle piece. It was nearly lunch time.

"What did she want?" Draco asked, his tone verging on hostile.

"Nothing, she was just wondering why I wasn't in lessons," Hermione muttered, her eyes watching the second hand on the clock tick round.

"I suppose that's nice of her," Draco said, moving and sitting on the sofa. "Why are you watching the clock?"

There was a loud and frantic knock at the portrait hole. Hermione's eyes snapped over to the hole. The knock came again.

"Hermione! Let me in!" Ginny said from the other side of the portrait.

Hermione looked, her eyes wide with panic, at Draco. Draco returned, his expression mirroring hers. She threw the letter to him and waited for him to quickly read it, as if it was an explanation. His eyes widened further and he looked back up at Hermione.

"Let her in, quickly, and then get rid of her," he said abruptly, standing up and marching to his room.

Hermione looked down at her outfit, as more knocks echoed through the now empty common room, and realised she was still wearing Ron's boxers and jumper.

"Hermione! Are you in there?" Ginny called from outside.

"Uh, yeah just a minute!" Hermione replied, running into her room and quickly throwing her fuzzy dressing gown over herself. Then she went to the portrait hole, wincing at the loud knocks, and opened it.

"About time, too!" Ginny exclaimed, stepping in and pushing past Hermione. Hermione shut the portrait, already regretting letting Ginny in. She was about to say something but Ginny had already launched into the gossip from Ron.

"Apparently, Ron said you and him slept together last night, and then he said he left you crying because of something this morning, and then Harry said he hadn't seen you at breakfast or in lessons, and you even missed Potions, and he also told me to tell you that you have a detention with Snape tomorrow, so I asked Ron if you had used protection, and he mumbled something about not remembering – you know how boys are – and then I came to the conclusion that you are pregnant and that's why he wasn't happy about finally bedding you, and that's also why you were crying when he left you this morning." Ginny grinned, satisfied with her conclusion of the situation.

Hermione shook her head, still processing the information that had just been shot at her.

"I'm wrong?" Ginny asked, her face falling, a frown fixed in place.

"Entirely," Hermione replied.

"So you didn't sleep together?" Ginny asked.

"No, we slept together," Hermione said quietly, as if ashamed.

"But you're not pregnant?"

"Do I really look like one of those ditzy girls who gets pregnant in school?"

"No."

"Exactly."

"So I'm not going to be an aunt?"

"No."

"Oh…"

Ginny pondered over the new information. It seemed that Hermione had taken a big marker pen and scribbled over all of Ginny's original findings, correcting them.

"But then why did Ron say you were crying?" she asked after a moment of thinking.

"He did?" Hermione said, laughing nervously and trying to stay calm. "You know Ron likes to add things in to make him seem more heroic."

"Yeah," Ginny said suspiciously. She looked Hermione up and down, trying to find a flaw in her excuses.

"What is this, an interrogation?" Hermione said, smiling crookedly, her heart thudding. If Ginny worked out that her and Draco were dating, she'd be in big trouble.

"Okay, I believe you," Ginny said, sighing and giving in. "So are you and Ron still going out?"

"I…" Hermione hadn't expected this question. "I think so, I don't know."

"Was he really that bad?" Ginny said sympathetically.

Hermione leapt at the opportunity to dig herself out of her spiral of lies. "Well let's just say he wasn't what I expected."

She made an excuse to leave, sending Ginny to the Gryffindor common room to question Ron about it, and collapsed onto the sofa. Draco emerged from his room.

"Is the Weaslette gone?" he asked, looking around.

"Don't call her that," Hermione said wearily. "And yes, she is."

Draco sat down next to her, pulling her to him, his arm cradling her to his chest. She sighed deeply and shut her eyes, realising how hard it would be to keep Draco from them.

"We'll have to tell them some day," Draco said, almost as if he was reading her mind.

"I know. But some day, not today," Hermione replied.

"Some day," Draco agreed.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: _OMG I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING IN MONTHS! My idea bunny is back, and after been threatened, bribed and hugged into getting back to these, there should be more updates. So anyway, this chapter is sort of a musing from Draco's point of view. We don't hear much from old Drackie-poo. (:_

_OOH, and also, there are a couple of references to HP7, but not really spoilers. Not that anyone hasn't read the last HP book yet so there wouldn't be anything to spoil._

**Dedicated to Gina, for making me update.**** And for our bitch-hugs. **

… **Sorry, Hannah got POTF. She gave me a Haribo. :D**

_(Gina will understand that…)_

Draco was sitting on the plush sofa in the common room. The Weaselette… No, wait, Hermione didn't like that word… _Ginny_ had dragged Hermione out before breakfast, and Draco was killing some time before the first lesson. Apparently Ginny wasn't satisfied with Hermione's answer yesterday, and since the Weasel wasn't talking, his little sister had come crawling for gossip.

Draco found himself frowning into the fire. Hermione had given her virginity to the Weasel. Why did that bother him?

They were dating. _That's _why it bothered him. But why were they dating?

Seriously.

A Gryffindor and a Slytherin. Pureblood and Muggle-born. Malfoy and Granger. It just didn't click.

Draco sighed. Was Hermione using Ron to make him jealous? Did Hermione really like him? Did he really like Hermione? What would Pansy say? What was his _father_ say? Should he tell his father? Should he tell Pansy? Should he let Hermione tell the rest of the Dream Team?

Draco sighed again. So many questions but not one answer.

Standing up and slinging his bag over his shoulder, he headed towards the portrait hole. Potions was first. He could be with Hermione. His mind whirred.

_This was the perfect time to announce their relationship to the world._

It had to happen sooner or later. Slytherins and Gryffindors couldn't stay enemies forever. It was time there was a change, and Draco felt he was the one to do it.

Who was he kidding; he didn't have the courage to announce his relationship with Hermione.

He turned a corner and headed towards the dungeons.

Why did Hermione agree to go out with him? The whole school had predicted that the Weasel and Hermione would have ended up dating in their seventh year. Hell, if the world had known, the world would have predicted it. They were supposed to grow up, two Gryffindors together, and have a little boy and a little girl, a traditional family, and they'd send their children to Hogwarts. Draco was supposed to carry on his father's traditions and have an heir to the Malfoy heritage. But he didn't want to follow in his father's footsteps anymore. He'd been forced to for most of his life, and, to be honest, it was driving him mad. No this, no that, do this, do that. Where was the freedom in his life?

Draco let out a small laugh, though there was no one around to hear it. He sounded like a hippie. No one really knew Draco. He was quite a deep person on the inside. He liked to read and he liked to draw and paint. He liked to be romantic. It wasn't all about sex and breasts. He hadn't even had sex as much as was put around. Infact, he'd only ever slept with Pansy before, and she wasn't exactly a virgin anyway. It was a known fact that she slept around the Slytherin house. Draco smirked. It was rumoured she even slept around the teachers.

He reached the dungeon where the lesson was held. A few people were standing outside already, chatting amongst themselves. Amongst them, he could see Hermione. She caught his eye and smiled secretly. He returned her little smile before leaning against the wall and adopting his usual stony look. As the rest of the students trailed in, he took the opportunity to trip a few up, or to laugh at them spitefully. When Crabbe and Goyle joined him, they shoved a boy into the wall. Draco didn't mind bullying his classmates, actually. He sort of enjoyed it. But sometimes it made him feel guilty, which wasn't supposed to happen. He was brought up to be vicious and to like it, which is why he didn't mind so much.

Professor Snape arrived and they filed into the classroom. Draco's head soon filled with daydreams and schemes.


End file.
